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I Was Made For Loving You
"I Was Made for Lovin' You" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1979 album Dynasty. It was released as the A-side of their firstsingle from the album, on the B-side was "Hard Times". History[edit source | editbeta] It was the band's second Gold single, selling over 1 million copies. The single was certified Gold in the US on August 16, 1979,[3] and in Canada on August 1, 1979.[4] The B-side of the single is the album track "Hard Times", which was written by Ace Frehley. The song was one of the band's few singles to chart in the UK in the 1970s, though only peaking at No. 50, where a 7 min 54 sec version was released on 12" single in addition to the shorter 7" version. Throughout the years since its release, the song has become a permanent staple in Kiss's live performances, despite sounding different from the studio version. When Eric Carr joined the band in 1980, the song was played in a significantly faster tempo, attributed to Carr's rapid drumming skills.[5] Toward Carr's final years of his life up to the current lineup, the song was played in the same tempo as the studio version, but with a more-rock, less-disco feel.[6] The band's performance of the song at their 30th anniversary show in Melbourne, Australia, was accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, who wore KISS-style makeup with their tuxedos.[7] At first Desmond Child said that "Paul wanted to write a good disco song and I decided to help him with that. Paul started to write lyrics and chords then I played the song on the guitar and said "OK, we'll do something to improve this and make it really a good song". "I Was Made for Lovin' You" draws heavily from the disco style that was popular in the US in the late 1970s. Paul Stanley, who co-wrote the song with Desmond Childand Vini Poncia, has stated that it was a conscious effort on his part to prove how easy it was to write and record a hit disco song.[8] Although Peter Criss appeared in the video and on the album cover, he did not actually play on the track. As with most of the Dynasty album, session drummer Anton Fig took the place of Criss, who had been deemed unfit to play by Poncia. There is a bootleg audio recording of the writing sessions for the song in which Stanley mentions Criss' name a couple of times, indicating he was present during the arranging of the song.[8] Stanley plays bass guitar in addition to rhythm guitar. Legacy[edit source | editbeta] "I Was Made For Lovin' You" was Kiss' first songwriting collaboration with Desmond Child, who would show up later on Animalize, Asylum, Crazy Nights, Smashes, Thrashes & Hits, and Hot in the Shade. It became a #11 hit on the charts, but some Kiss fans dismissed it as a sell-out. Despite the backlash, the song has become a concert staple over the years in a re-arranged version that throws out the disco frills and plays up the its relentless riffing (this version can be heard on Alive III). While not as drastic as the 1979 "Radio Single Mix," the length of the song is edited by some eleven seconds down to 4 minutes and 16 seconds. Like the 1979 edit the beginning measures of the song are reduced from four to two and the harmonizing following the guitar solo is halved. The music video of "I Was Made for Lovin' You" was filmed in May 20, 1979. A promotional video was shot featuring the song performed on the Dynasty stage set. The music video consisted of the band members performing the song on a stage. The music video on YouTube has more than twenty million views. The single reached #11 on the US Billboard singles chart. The song also became a hit in Australia reaching #1 on the ARIA charts in 1979. The song also charted in Western Europe, it became a top 20 hit in Sweden, a top 10 hit in Norway, made it to the number 2 position in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. In theNetherlands it was a #1. In the UK it stalled at number 50. Sales certifications[edit source | editbeta] Cover versions[edit source | editbeta] *In 1982, Puerto Rican singing group Menudo recorded a Spanish version of the song entitled "Nacido Para Amarte." *In 1989, Swedish singer Ankie Bagger covered the song for her 1989 album Where Were You Last Night. *In 1990, Japanese female pop duet Wink covered the song in a Japanese language version entitled "Warui Yume" on their album Crescent. *In 1994, German punk band Die Ärzte covered the song "Unholy" on the Kiss tribute album "Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved" which included an instrumental track of "I Was Made for Lovin' You". *In 1995, Chill, composed of Arndt Meyer-Wegner, Marc Olbertz, Torsten Stenzel, and Zied Jouini, redid the song on the Macarena Club Cutz compilation CD. *In 1996, Italian singer Dave Rodgers recorded a eurobeat version. *In 1996, Heart Attack also recorded a eurobeat version with a female vocal. The CD single included three versions: Edit, Extended Version and a Club Mix. One of the Heart Attack versions was included on the 1997 compilation Dancemania Covers. *In 1997, Latvian band Labvēlīgais Tips recorded a cover titled "4. decembris" for their album Pumpa *In 1998, German techno group Scooter covered the song on their album No Time to Chill and went on to release it as a double A-side single with "We Are the Greatest". *In 1998, Finnish metal band Embraze covered the song for their debut album LAEH. *In 1999, Electronic Breakbeat artist Freq Nasty covered the song with singer Amizree on his debut album, "Freq's Geeks & Mutilations". *In 2000, German electro band Queen of Japan included a cover of the song on their album Headrush. *In 2000, popular Greek singer Anna Vissi covered the song and released it on her first English-language album entitled Everything I Am. *In 2001, Faster Pussycat covered the song for their album Between the Valley of the Ultra Pussy. *In 2002, Mexican singer Paulina Rubio included her rendition of the song on her album Border Girl. *In 2004, Japanese folk-pop duo The Indigo included an acoustic rendition of the song on their cover album My Fair Melodies 2. *In 2004, former Exposé member Gioia Bruno recorded a dance cover of the song for her album Expose This. *In 2005, French band Dax Riders included a cover version on their album Hot. *In 2005, Japanese Shibuya-kei singer Maki Nomiya song on her album Party People. *In 2006, Spanish underground performer and rockstar La Prohibida recorded the Spanish cover "Estoy hecha para amarte". *In 2006, Kate The Cat released an easy listening version on their double album Love. *In 2006, French synth-disco group, Hypnolove, included a cover of the song on their album, Eurolove. *Swedish dansband, Leif Nordbergs, which has covered hard rock and heavy metal hits in dansband versions, also covered this song. *In 2008 a rock noir cover version of the song was recorded by Italian rock noir band Belladonna. *In 2008, singer-songwriter Maria Mena included a cover of the song on her fifth studio album Cause and Effect. In 2009 her version was released as the album's fourth and final single with an accompanying music video. *In 2008, the KISS tribute band Mini Rockerz released a cover of the song. *In 2009, Australian band, The Wildflowers released a cover of the song on the album Succession - A 30th Anniversary Tribute to Dynasty. *In 2009, Mexican band Tropikal Forever released a version with Spanish lyrics and rearranged with Latin rhythms named "Aguas Wey" included in their independent album Chunchaka en tu Idioma. *In 2010, French group Les Enfoirés did a cover version titled "Si l'on s'aimait, si". Live cover performances[edit source | editbeta] *In 1980, actress Lynda Carter covered the song for her second television special Encore!, in which she dressed as a female Kiss member and had Kiss look-alike dancers dance around her. Real Kiss memberGene Simmons later wore Lynda's original Kiss costume for his 1986 film Never Too Young to Die. *On various occasions during the 1990s, Dutch singer René Froger has sung the song, both live and for recordings. *In 2002, Serbian hard rock band Cactus Jack included live performances of the song on their album DisCover. *In 2007 on Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version of American Idol, contestant Max Buskohl sang the song in his first of two performances for the night. *In 2010 twin brothers (and 1/2 brothers of Rogue Wave (band) drummer Pat Spurgeon) Joe Daley, and Brian Daley's Chicago-based band "Demilos" uploaded an unmixed/unmastered version of the song on youtube.com,[29] this is believed to be a live-in-studio performance. Parodies/References in other songs[edit source | editbeta] Jack Black covered the song as, "I Was Made For Sliming You" at the 2008 Kids Choice Awards. In addition, some observers felt the central riff of "I Was Made for Lovin' You" was borrowed in Bruce Springsteen's song "Outlaw Pete" from his 2009 album Working On A Dream.[30][31][32] Appearances in other media[edit source | editbeta] *The song is featured in a scene from the 1981 film Endless Love. *The song is also featured in a scene from the movie That's My Boy with Susan Sarandon, Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler. *It is sung in the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!, when Satine and Christian are in the elephant. *In the 14th season episode of The Simpsons from 2003 entitled "Pray Anything", Homer blasts the song at full volume soon after moving into the church. *This song has been re-recorded and released as downloadable content for the 2009 game Guitar Hero 5. *A cover version of the song was used by Costa Coffee in their 2012 UK television advert *This song also appears on the game Just Dance 3. Category:1980 singles Category:1979 singles